PHP Development
The battle-tested server-side language powering 77% of the web.
What is PHP?
PHP is a widely-used server-side scripting language that powers approximately 77% of all websites with known server-side technology, including WordPress, Facebook, Wikipedia, and Slack. Modern PHP (8.x) is a dramatically different language from its early versions, featuring typed properties, enums, fibers, match expressions, and JIT compilation.
PHP 8.x delivers performance comparable to compiled languages for web workloads, with the JIT compiler providing up to 3x speedups for certain operations. The language now supports readonly classes, intersection types, and named arguments — features that rival any modern programming language.
With mature hosting infrastructure available everywhere, from $5/month shared hosting to enterprise cloud deployments, PHP offers the most accessible deployment story of any server-side language. Its ecosystem includes Composer for package management and frameworks like Laravel and Symfony.
Why GRADAX uses PHP
We use PHP primarily through Laravel for projects where the mature PHP hosting ecosystem and rapid development capabilities are advantageous. PHP's ubiquity means our clients have maximum flexibility in hosting and maintaining their applications.
Modern PHP with strict typing, Composer dependency management, and frameworks like Laravel produces clean, maintainable code that is far removed from the stereotype of messy PHP scripts.
Common use cases
Here is how businesses use this technology to solve real problems.
WordPress theme and plugin development
E-commerce platforms (WooCommerce, Magento)
Content management systems
REST API backends
Legacy application modernization
Serverless functions via Laravel Vapor
Key features
The capabilities that make this technology stand out.
PHP 8.x Features
Modern language features including typed properties, enums, match expressions, fibers, and JIT compilation.
Universal Hosting
Deploy on virtually any web host. PHP is supported by more hosting providers than any other server-side language.
Composer Package Manager
Mature dependency management with thousands of packages for any backend requirement.
WordPress Integration
Build custom themes, plugins, and integrations for the world's most popular CMS platform.
Related services
GRADAX services that leverage this technology.
Related technologies
Other technologies in our stack that work well together.
PHP — Frequently asked questions
Common questions about this technology and how we use it.
Ready to build with PHP?
Tell us about your project and we'll show you how we can help.